Fixed
by Mrpointyhorns
Summary: Kyle is broken. Stan can fix him. Can Kyle get better? Stan/Kyle, Warnings: gore, castration, slash


Title: Fixed

Fandom: South Park

Beta: Phoenixdreams

Characters: Stan/Kyle

Prompt: .072 Fixed.

Rating: M

Summary: Kyle is broken. Stan can fix him, but only if Kyle wants to get better.

Author's Notes: The fic features castraction so trend lightly, and don't read it if you don't think you will like it.

For the first night on a job, that Kevin thought would be high impact and high energy was turning out to be pretty boring and slow. Becoming an officer of the law was probably the best job a kid like Kevin McCormick could get. Even though his father had left town a long time ago, he was still just a poor boy with only a High School education. 

However, the job of pulling over speeders held little thrill when no one was on the road. Kevin pulled his bike into the local diner for a quick bathroom break and a refill on his coffee.

He was just swinging his leg off of the bike when he received the call of his life. A few citizens had called in about a strange smell coming from their neighbors house. At first they had thought an animal must have died, and they called the local pound. But when animal control arrived they realized that they might need some back up. Kevin was closest to the area, but Officer Barbrady was already on his way.

Kevin did take the time to relieve himself, because the have-to-go-potty dance was threatening. So when he arrived on the scene, it was a few minutes behind his back up.

The smell was disgusting from the street, but as he approached the doorway, it was retching. He had to go back to his bike and put on a mask. He knew he would puke if the smell got worse. He took his time getting to the door the second time. He knew that whatever was going on inside was not going anywhere.

He took his sunglasses off and placed them inside his pocket as he approached. Then he removed his police hat from his back pocket and put it on his head. The snow crunched beneath his shoes as he reached the door. It was fresh and clean like no one had walked over it in sometime.

The house stood between two homes, it looked exactly like all of the homes up and down the street. It was nothing like the area Kevin grew up in. It was middle class suburbia through and through. The porch even had a welcome mat that was covered in snow. 

Kevin hoped that one day his job would enable him to afford a place like this for him, his mother, and his siblings. They were not as poor as they had been before their father had left. They no longer had anyone to spend all their money on booze, but they still lived on the other side of the tracks.

He pushed his thoughts aside and rang the bell of the home. He wait for several minutes hoping that someone would answer the door. The dog catcher and Officer Barbrady stood at the street waiting for something to happen. After the several minutes were up Kevin turned around to give his commanding officer a shrug.

"Try again?" Officer Barbrady looked unsure, but Kevin followed the suggestion again.

"Open up!" Kevin called out as he pounded on the door. "Hey anyone in there, open the door." His voice echoed down the street after he was done speaking, but as he waited he realized that no one would be coming to the door. It was all very suspicious. A few of the neighbors began to emerge wanting to see the action. Kevin liked the feeling of power and control his uniform gave him. He knocked again really loudly and called out, "It's the police."

Still there was no reply. After a few more quiet moments, and a dozen more citizens Kevin gave up and returned from the door. He stood next to Officer Barbrady. "What do you think we should do?"

"Well, I think we should try again," Officer Barbrady explained. "They might be in the shower."

Kevin frowned. He really did not think that was a very good solution. He remembered that his handbook had suggested getting a warrant if a problem like this occurred. "I think we need to get a warrant. Then we will be able to search the house without permission."

"Good idea, why did you ask me?" Officer Barbrady loudly explained. 

The blond officer shrugged in reply. He moved to Officer Barbrady's vehicle and called into the station. "Hey Maggie, we are going to need a search warrant here for this house. The smell coming from it is terrible, and there has been no reply when I tried knocking. I think the house might be abandoned. There might be some animals left inside, or something."

"All right, Officer McCormick," Maggie answered. 

The process to get a warrant was actually fairly simple. They would send a copy of a general warrant to the Park County's Judge. He would sign it and then he would send it back to them. Usually this process took a long time, as the Judge was not always busy and spent most of his time playing Call of Duty. But, he was resting his thumbs for a few minutes when the warrant came in. It was easy for him to sign it, and he did so without reading too much of it. The warrant was then faxed back to the jail, and sent over to the officers.

It meant standing around for an entire hour, and most of the citizens had returned to their homes. Sgt. Yates was the one to bring them the warrant. He nodded to Kevin to start the search. Then he went over to Officer Barbrady to chat him up. Neither of the veteran officers thought much of what was going on. They were used to a sleep town and they figured that this was just another false alarm.

Kevin took his job seriously however. He hurried to the front doorand, with the warrant in mind he broke open the door. The smell intensified tenfold. Officer Barbrady even made a comment about it before getting into his car with Yates to wait it off in there.

McCormick soldiered on. He entered the living room first, and besides the smell nothing seemed amiss. There was plastic on the furniture, but that was not a crime. So he went in further. He went up the stairs two at a time. He reached the top quickly and he entered the master bedroom, the first room on the floor.

The smell before was incredible, but it had become so terrible, that Kevin's eyes teared up and his throat constricted. He gagged a little but he did not lose his lunch. Looking through the smell Kevin found the source. Laying on the bed, was rolls upon rolls of rotting flesh. It was already covered in maggots and flies, so the body had to be decaying for sometime. Kevin did not get any closer. He immediately left the room and hurried outside to tell his superiors what he had seen.

By this time, the dozen or so citizens were back in the street, some complaining about the renewed smell. "Someone's dead. A woman, she's dead." Kevin explained loudly, both the citizens and the Officers heard this.

Suddenly the area became a closed crime scene. Yellow tape was hung up, the fire department and the ambulance was called. The news crew came in by chopper and by van, and the citizens turned out in the hundreds.

Kevin, Yates and Barbrady, entered the closed crime scene ready to investigate more. Kevin followed Yates at first. The older officer seemed to know what he was doing. He entered the kitchen and began checking for fingerprints.

"Check the refrigerator." Yates ordered. 

So Kevin opened the refrigerator, but nothing was unusual, just rotten food. He then opened the freezer and gasped, "What the hell is this?" Yates came up behind him, but the member for the force was unable to answer him. Inside the freezer were test tubes, breakers, and petri dishes from top to bottom. It was something out of a science fiction movie. Kevin reached his hand in to grab a dish.

"Wait," Yates instructed. "This is evidence and I don't think we should touch it. Not until the detectives come in here. Why don't you keep looking around upstairs"

He said nothing hurrying out of the room. He felt a little relieved. He passed Barbrady in the lady's bedroom. He was instructing the fire department on the best way to get the big body outside. The fire fighters seemed to want to take the body out the window, but Office Barbrady explained to them that they were on the second story. The argument was quite confusing.

Kevin continued on looking for more clues. It was nearly impossible to do so. All of the other rooms on the floor were cemented shut. The entire doorway was a block of cement it would take a wallsaw to break through it. Knowing that he hurried on, they would return to those rooms later. There was one last door on the floor that was not covered in cement. 

He hurried to the end of the hall. The door opened up to a flight of stairs leading up to what Kevin assumed was the attic. It was dark all the way up and the switch on the wall did not seem to work. So Kevin pulled out his flashlight and hurried up. There had to be a reason this was the only door that was accessible.

At the top of the stairs, was a second light switch but he did not see it right away. It was behind him. He began at once to search for the light, but was distracted by something against the far wall, towards his left, by far the darkest part of the room. Whenever his light hit that area a strange shimmer would emerge.

He held his light still, and moved further into the room. He was paying no attention to where he stepped. It was a mistake not to because he collided with a chair. It hit him right in the thigh and it hurt! "Shit, fuck," Kevin swore rubbing his abused leg. The light wobbled a bit and he noticed the same shimmering but a bit closer to him. The pain was forgotten as it caught his attention.

Stilling his hand again he rose to his full height. Slowly this time he inched over to the object. He avoided running into and did not see anything that seemed suspicious.

He was just about to give up his search when the light stopped on a beautiful pair of emerald colored eyes. Kevin stepped closer to the eyes, allowing the growing light to reveal a nose, lips, a pair of ears and a crop of red hair. A whole face came into focus. It was no mirror it was another person.

"Ouch!" Kevin yelped in pain. The pair of eyes had once again distracted him from where he was going and he had run into another object. 

This object however whimpered back. At least the person inside did. It was a second person, a child. He looked so young, eight maybe nine. He was on his knees in a kennel like an animal. He had dark beady eyes and dark hair. The boys stared at him without any expression, like they were too afraid to.

The fact that they were so still gave Kevin a chance to get a good look at their condition. Their knees were raw from kneeling for so long, the waste was pushed to the back of the cage, welts, bruises and other marks splattered over the children's back, the boys were so malnourished that every bone looking like it was ready to break skin. They probably had nothing to eat since the woman downstairs died. And at just arms length lay a plate full of moldy bread and water, teasing the boys.

Kevin flickered the light to the other boy, he looked worse off then the blackhaired one. It was hard to tell though. 

"Officer McMormick?" A voice called up the stairs. Kevin did not recognized it so he assumed that it was a fire fighter. 

"You're not going to believe this," Kevin answered the man. He felt sick looking at the situations but he pushed his problems aside. These kids needed his help.

After a few moments the fire fighter came up the stairs, finding the light switch. "What is it..." The look of dread on his face said everything. He had never seen something like this before in his life. "Holy hell!"

"We need to get them out of here," Kevin reasoned. He had already gone through the shock part of this. The fire fighter nodded. He hurried down the stairs to get some back up. Kevin hurried over to the other kennel kneeling in front of both. "Don't worry guys we'll get you out of here."

The redhead backed away from Kevin sitting almost in his own waste. The other did not seem as frightened like he knew that they were there to help. The fire fighter returned with the detective and a medical assistant. The detective insisted that they take pictures, then he took some forensics, and finally a medical exam. They called for even more back up and began taking pictures of the scene. 

The boys looked more or less all right, but they would need to be taken to the station. They could not be left alone in these conditions. They would call Child Protective Services once they were taken into custody. They would not be returning home.

Kevin left only once, to grab blankets for the car. He felt that the boys would need some sort of comfort after having their pictures taken.

"McCormick," Yates called over when he returned. "I want you to bring the boys in for their exam. Then bring them to the station. You found them." Yates had been informed, by the arriving forces that they did not need a junior like Kevin hanging around them. At least this way Yates could get rid of Kevin nicely.

"Okay," Kevin agreed. He thought the offer was fine. He would rather know what happened to the poor kids then stick around investigating the crime scene. 

Removing the boys from their kennels was actually more difficult then they thought it would be. They tried to remove the redhead first. The coaxed him out with soft sounds like they might a scared animal. The result pushed the child into the back of the cage and into his own waste. The other officers immediately tried to help remove the first child.

Without permission Kevin turned to the younger boy. He opened the kennel door and held out the blanket for him. The young child at first seemed as afraid of him as the other, but slowly he emerged. Kevin carefully wrapped the blanket around him and lifted him from the ground. "Yates, I have this one," Kevin informed.

Yates stood from his position at the other cage. He frowned at how easy it seemed for Kevin to coax the child from his kennel. He did not scold him however. "Okay, bring him out to my car. You'll need to take them in with that."

The blonde agreed. He hurried out of the room and down the stairs. When he got out of the house, he tried as much as he could do shield the little boy from the camera's eye. It was very difficult. He put the little boy in his car and belted him inside of it carefully. Then he hurried back into the house and up the stairs, leaving the little boy in the charge of Officer Barbrady, who had been banned from helping with the removal of the woman's body.

He hurried back into the house hoping to help the other boy get out of the kennel. He was not surprised to find that the redhead was even messier then before. But they had managed to pull him out of the kennel. One of the fire fighters were rubbing him clean with a towel. Kevin hurried over.

"Holy Hell," the fire fighter said again. The team of investigators turn to him. He said nothing in reply. He just turned the boy around to face him. Holding the boy in a standing positions everyone could see what was so shocking. The redheaded child was missing his testicles. 

The room fell silent staring. Every one of them wondered what had happened here. Kevin was the first to move in. He grabbed a clean blanket and wrapped it around the young boy. He did not allow another picture to be taken of him. He picked up the little boy and hurried to the stairs.

"McCormick!" Yates called from inside the room. Kevin stopped at the top of the stairs but did not turn around. "They need to be taken to Hell's Pass, not the station."

Kevin did not give a reply. He did not need that order. He continued down the stairs, putting the redhead inside the car with what he assumed was the boy's brother. The two clung together as much as they could with their belts on. He drove to the hospital to find the boys a doctor. They needed to be treated. He vowed in his mind to stay close to them until he was sure they were safe.

It was unthinkable that anyone in South Park would not know about what happened to Shelia Broflovski. It made national news: 

**A Forty-Five-year-old woman was found dead at her home this Friday, in South Park, Colorado. Officers at the scene said that she had been dead for at least one week. She weighed over 400 pounds when she died and had to be removed from her house by a crane. Neighbors said that she had closed herself off from the world when her husband left town with another man, nearly five years ago. Since that time she has refused to leave the house. She had all her necessities delivered to her. She made money buying and selling items on Ebay.**

It was a tragic tale of a wife devastated by her husband's betrayal. Yet, it was only the first chapter. The fate of her sons was kept under police seal.

The boys would need a home to stay in until they could reach their father or another member of their family. CPS refused to let the boys stay at the county jail, but because it was a small town they contacted some folk who were known to be close to the boys.

Sharon Marsh got the call while she was thawing meat. After loyal years assisting her boss, she negotiated working part time for him. She worked morning and got the afternoons off.

"Sharon Marsh," The CPS employee addressed over the phone.

"This is she," Sharon put the phone between her shoulder and her ear. She continued to work as she listened.

"I'm certain you are aware of what happened at the Broflovski's two days ago?"

"Yes, I am. It's terrible. My Stan was friends with her son when they were just little boys. I once knew her quite well. Stan was so upset about it too." Sharon sympathized. She guessed that the lady on the phone wanted any numbers to contact Shelia's family or ex. 

"Well that's actually what I'm calling about. Shelia was not alone when she died. Both her sons, Kyle and Ike were there."

"What are you talking about?" Sharon, everyone had assumed that the boys left with Gerald. It was all so sudden no one questioned it.

The CPS lady explained to Sharon about how they found the brothers. She explained about their injuries and she asked if Sharon would mind taking Kyle in. Ike would be staying with his friend Fillmore. Sharon promised that she would pick up Kyle at 3 p.m.

The poor mother did not know what to think. She did not even know if she really understood what happened. All she understood was that something terrible happened and imagining it happening to her boy made her sick. She broke down into tears and soon was sobbing. She sobbed uncontrollably, non-stop for hours.

"Mom!" Stan called when he arrived home at 2:15. He threw his bag on the ground near the door and hurried into the kitchen. "Is it okay if Gary comes over for dinner...Mom?"

Stan hurried to his mother's side. She was still crying but not as hard. "M-mom? What happened?"

"Stan. Oh Stanley." Sharon put her arms around her son. She hugged him close and hard. He was fifteen now and taller than his mother. He was able to comfort her now, but he was still nervous about seeing his mother cry.

After several minute Sharon calmed down. She pulled back from her son and cupped his face in her hands. She could never imagine hurting her son. She could not believe any mother could. Stan loved and trusted her so much, how could she ever betray that? No matter, what's done was done. Sharon would just have to vow to make sure that Kyle was safe and loved in her home.

"It's about Kyle." Sharon said seriously. She drew a chair over and sat Stan down. "He was still living with his mother all this time."

"What! I thought he was with his Dad? You said that he was in a better place!" Stan's eyes filled with terror. He had been so upset when Kyle was suddenly gone. It happened overnight five years ago. For Stan it felt like Kyle had died.

"I know Stanley. We all hoped that," Sharon explained. Stan continued to look fearful. "His mother did not treat him good, baby. He and Ike were hurt really bad. So until they can contact their father Kyle will stay here. He is going to need special treatment though. He was hurt really bad."

Stan's eyes widened even more. He knew that his mom was trying to sugar coat what happened. So he figured that what happened it had to be terrible, "Of course."

"Good boy. Now where is your sister?" Sharon stood form her seat. She brushed her hands off on her skirt.

"Work, or detention." Stan sneered. Shelley was still the bane of his existence, but it was hopefully her last year at home.

Sharon nodded. She no longer worried or got disappointed in her daughter. "I'm going to clean up. I promised to pick up Kyle at three. "Can I come?" Stan eagerly asked.

Stan felt so nervous. He had not seen Kyle in five years. He did not know what it would be like to see his best friend again. 

He imagined the two of them hugging tightly. Both happy to see each other. It made Stan feel hopeful. 

Then he thought that he would see Kyle and not be able to recognize him. He would have grown tall and lean. He might have lost his freckles and his childlike smile. That scared the hell out of him. Could they even be friends anymore?

Finally, he believed that Kyle would be angry at him. He vowed to always protect him. Stan knew that he failed, unknowingly, to do so. That would crush Stan. He would feel so upset that he would stop eating and he'd get sick when he did. Failing Kyle would be the worse.

That is until he met Kyle. He was much taller then Stan thought, about as tall as Stan himself, his face looked so young though. It looked like Kyle had never dealt with a pimple or razor burn in his life. Worst of all Kyle stood there just staring at the ground.

"Kyle!" Stan's mother called. Stan stood frozen as his mother gave Kyle a hug. "Stan wait here while I fill out the paper work."

Stan obediently nodded. His gaze falling to the same spot as Kyle. He toed the ground and did not say anything. The paperwork was simple and the ride home was silent, even Sharon kept from mothering.

"Stan, show Kyle to the guest room. I need to finish dinner." Sharon ordered in a no-nonsense way. Stan would have obeyed her anyway.

He led Kyle to the only bedroom that was downstairs. "This-this is where you're staying," Stan showed Kyle the bed and dressers. "The bathroom is yours alone." He pointed to the door.

Kyle stepped in carefully. He moved to the bed and sat down. His eyes never lifted from the ground.

"You can put your things away." Stan coaxed.

Kyle did not move. He had no things. Stan stood nervously in the doorway. He looked down at who he still considered his best friend. "Kyle? I missed you."

Kyle did nothing. He did not even blink. He unnerved his host. Stan stepped out of the room and shut the door half way. He noticed Kyle curl up in a ball as he walked away.

"Mmm Mom this is delicious. I'm glad. You're at least good at something." Shelly said with a mouth full of meatloaf.

Stan flinched as she set his father's plate down. "Stop that Shelley."

"Want to make something of it Turd?" Shelley spat.

Sharon gave Stan a look. She did not want him to get his sister going. She sat down in her place as the meal officially began. "Okay you Marshes. I have an announcement to make."

"God I thought you were on the pill whore." Shelley gurgled. Everyone at the table ignored her. In fact, Randy ignored everything. He even put his fork full of food down. These talks were never good.

"Kyle will be staying with us for a little while. He's been through some--well shit, so I want you all to try to make him feel comfortable." Sharon explained to her family.

"That little Turd who used to hang around Stan? What the hell is wrong with him?" Shelley spat more chewed meat onto the table. 

"Shelley!" Stan exclaimed. "Leave him the fuck alone."

"Stan," Sharon scolded him.

"Sharon, what happened?" Randy asked changing the subject.

"Well, his mother died a while ago and he was living with her. She hurt him really bad," Sharon teared up again. Her tears kept anyone from commenting or asking anymore questions. "I think its best for Kyle that I only say that. He can tell you more if he wants to."

"Yeah whatever, just tell him to stay away from me," Shelley finished her food and threw her plate in the sink. She stormed upstairs to her room unmoved by the story.

"So why isn't he eating out here?" Randy asked curiously.

"He's had it rough. I brought him a plate. He will eat with us when he is ready." Sharon explained.

Randy had no complaints. Kyle had always been a good kid and a friend to Stan. He returned to his meal without any qualms.

"Can I stay home with him tomorrow?" Stan asked. Sharon knew that Stan was not trying to get out of class, but she did not let him stay home. She wanted to give Kyle some space.

Kyle spent the first week in bed, at least that's where Stan always found him. He would spend about an hour just staring at him. He knew Kyle must get up because his towels were damp when Stan changed them, but he never saw this.

Stan never spoke to Kyle after the first day. He understood that Kyle had gone through something awful and he could not think of anything to say.

Besides his mother, Stan seemed to be like the only person that knew Kyle existed. He did not tell the kids at school yet, because he knew they would want to see him. He did not think that Kyle could handle that yet. Stan had an indescribable need to protect Kyle, or maybe he just wanted to keep Kyle to himself. Most of all he wanted Kyle to be the friend that he knew again. He prayed every night that Kyle could make it.

Stan took a deep breath before he entered Kyle's room, for the first time in a week (besides going in to do chores). "Kyle?"

The redhead did not look like he acknowledged him. Stan knew that Kyle was seeing a specialist everything three days and he hoped that the specialist was making more progress than he was.

Once again the silent answer felt like the worst one. Stan became nervous, afraid, and confused. He started to question that what he was doing in there? And why it was important? 

"I-I I'm sorry. I'll leave," Stan turned away ready to retreat. He reached for the door and his nerves returned. He was able to speak to Kyle with his back turned. "I missed you Kyle."

Stan swore. He had a million other things he wanted to say, but he was sure he had chosen the silliest.

"Stan?" Kyle's voice was small. It was not hard to hear, but Stan felt like Kyle was surprised to hear it.

Stan turned around and marched to the end of the bed. He sat down on it, he felt like Kyle had invited him too. But, Kyle said nothing more. Stan started to feel strange again. He hated to see Kyle like this, hated feeling so scared around him. It made his need to protect Kyle grow even stronger. It filled his chest and his mind until all other needs were pushed out.

Kyle finally turned around. Resting now on his back his legs stretched out on the bed. He looked so vulnerable compared to how he looked curled up or staring at the floor. He stared at the ceiling this time but it felt like a big step. 

"Is she dead?" Kyle's dry voice was light and soft like a little boy's.

Stan nodded at first. Then he realized that Kyle could not see him. "Yes. She is gone."

"Gone," Kyle's face squished up like it could not decide if it should cry or smile. Like it did not even know how to anymore. There were no lines on Kyle's face that indicated he did either very often.

"Where's Ike?" Kyle's voice was choked this time.

"He's staying with Fillmore's folks. I-I don't know why they split you up. I'm sure you could visit him." Stan hopefully looked for any reaction from Kyle. None came however, but Stan wanted to believe that Kyle looked thoughtful. After a few minutes Stan stood to leave. He felt like real progress was made and he did not want to push it.

"Stan, will you stay?" Kyle's eyes flickered from the ceiling to Stan's right shoulder and back. Stan felt like Kyle really needed him. His heart swelled with pleasure. Even though Kyle rolled back onto his side and he did not speak again, Stan felt like he was really helping. He stayed with Kyle until he was asleep.

After that day Kyle began to break out of his shell. It was little things at first, but Stan was so proud of him. He started eating with the family. At first no one seemed to mind, actually Stan was unsure that anyone even noticed. Shelley continued to shove food down her throat as quickly as possible, and Randy never really spoke too much during meal time. Sharon would serve Kyle a portion of food that the doctor recommended for him, and always asked how he was. Kyle never answered her. Besides that no one minded him. Only Stan who occasional glanced across the table at his best friend acknowledged him.

It was after an entire week of Kyle eating with them that Shelley finally took notice. It started with a simple command, "Pass the butter, turd," Shelley asked Stan.

Stan was not paying attention. He was staring at Kyle's plate. He watched as Kyle cut each bite of streak into a perfect square before eating it. He was entranced with it. Would Kyle be able to cut all of the meat into a square bite or would he have meat left over? It was something that Stan had to know.

"Turd! Turd!" Shelley finally jabbed her elbow into Stan's side. Her brother made a grunting sound and partially choked on his own piece of meat. After recovering he turned to glare at Shelley. "I said pass the butter. What are you looking at anyway?"

"N-nothing!" Stan's voice cracked a little. He grabbed the butter and past it to Shelley. He stole a glaze at Kyle. He was both not surprised and disappointed that Kyle was still looking at his steak. 

"Nothing, whatever Stan," Shelley looked across the table at Kyle. She smacked her lips together as she chewed on her meat. She had a entirely different reaction to what Kyle was doing. "What the hell!? Are you stupid or something? Just eat the fucking meat."

"Shelley!" Stan tried to scold but it came out more of a whine. He knew this was bad. Shelley looked at Stan with a smile that just oozed evil. She knew it was making her little brother upset and she wanted to keep pushing buttons.

"Why the fuck are you here anyway?" She continued. Stan begged her to stop. Then she remembered Kyle was here to get special treatment. "What the fuck happened to you anyway? I know your Mommy died but it's no reason to act like a fucking lunatic. Can't you speak? Why don't you defend yourself! Hey fucker, you act like you got raped or something, cheer the fuck up."

"Shelley," Randy's fists hit the table. He rose out of his chair a little he was not playing around. Randy always thought of Shelley the apple of his eyes so he usually ignored her behavior. 

Both Marsh children grew quiet. They were both surprised by their father. Even after the shock wore off they remained quiet for the rest of the meal. Stan was thankful. Whatever had happened to Kyle it was his choice whether or not he told anyone, and frankly Shelley would be the last person Stan told anything to.

"Mrs. Marsh," Kyle said as the meal neared the end. Shelley had already gone up to her room and Sharon was already cleaning. The family stopped what they were doing to look at Kyle. He was staring at the corner of his placemat but he looked like he had something to say. 

"What is it dear?" Sharon coaxed after a few rough minutes.

Without a glance or warning Kyle asked, "Can I see Ike?"

Sharon was surprised by this question. She did not even think about Kyle's brother since Kyle had gotten there. She was sure the other boy was fine. But she did not know if Kyle understood that. She smiled after a moment. "Of course you can honey. I'll just arrange it. Do you miss your brother?"

Kyle said nothing to answer her. He did not move his eyes from the corner of his mat, and he did not move to get off the table. It was like he did not even hear the question, or he did not understand it, or who it was for. He did not even react to the fact that he was going to see his brother. 

Stan wondered if he had even heard. Knowing that nothing more would be said, Stan helped Kyle back to his room. Kyle did not really need help, but he often would not do anything with permission or coaxing. "Don't worry Kyle. I'm sure Ike is fine." He left Kyle at the doorway wanting to give him some peace after the way Shelley had spoken to him.

Ike came over on a Saturday, because it was the most convenient for everyone involved. Sharon spent the morning preparing snacks for the boys and tidying her living room. Fillmore's Mom brought Ike over just after lunch. 

Sharon answered the door and smiled at the other mother. She did not know her well, since her children were older, but she felt a sense of pride for her. They were both helping to take care of these abused boys, and Sharon was glad that there were other good mothers out there.

"Stan and Kyle are in the living room," Sharon explained. She stepped back from the door letting both inside her home. She led Ike into the living room to where his brother was. 

Ike hurried over to Kyle's side, but once he was next to his brother all reaction stopped. Ike stared down at the floor just like his brother did and he said nothing. 

The three remain people looked. They did not want to push the boys, but then again they did not understand what benefit they received just standing next to each other.

Sharon cleared her throat after a few minutes, "I have some lemonade in the kitchen. Come on Stan let's leave these two alone for a little bit."

This made Stan feel a little left out. He followed his and Fillmore's Mom out of the room, but he did not go into the kitchen. Instead he tried to listen from the hall. He even sneaked a look around the corner, the boys were now sitting on the couch, but they were not saying anything. He waited for fifteen minutes, according to his cell phone. Still neither boy said a word, at least nothing he heard.

He had it. Stepping out from around the corner he entered the room. He moved over and sat beside Ike. "Kyle, I thought you wanted to see your brother? Aren't you going to ask him if he was okay? Or what he's been doing?"

Stan was not sure that Kyle or Ike would answer him, but he was glad more then surprised when Kyle did. "Does that matter Stan? Ike's here. She is never going to hurt us again. I don't have to worry about the other things. I don't have to ask. Him being here is what matters."

Stan looked stunned. He did not know what to say. He felt like Kyle had a point, after whatever they had been through they probably did not take any interest in little things like discussing the day or asking the time. 

"Stan!" Sharon snapped from the entrance way. "I said let the boys have their time together." Stan sprang up and took the rope that his mom unknowingly threw to him. He left the room, but as he left he swore he heard Kyle ask how Ike was.

It had been over a month since Ike came to visit. Kyle was slowly showing sings of improving. He still did not meet anyone's eyes and he did not speak unless he really needed to. But, he seemed more comfortable. He was really relaxing and that was allowing him to get better. 

The specialist was planning on testing Kyle in hopes that he could get Kyle back in school. Sharon loved having someone to watch soaps with, although she would admit that Kyle probably did not retain most of what happened. But he always sat with her, and she hoped he was enjoying some real mothering.

Stan spend every afternoon doing his homework in Kyle's bed. Kyle would curl up or lay flat, but he did not want Stan to leave. It made Stan feel important needed, and like he was failing again.

He could not see Kyle's progress. He could not know that Kyle was observing and healing and one day he would be ready to live again. Instead he dwelled on the fact that Kyle stared at the floor, that he would not speak, and that he seemed unwilling to try. He already failed Kyle once and he did not want to again.

Stan knew that he should handle this reasonably. He should take some time to himself, or talk to his mom. However Stan refused to do either of these things. He felt like he should be able to handle this, what kind of best friend would he be if he could not. What ended up happening was a step backwards, but it led to two steps forward.

It started when Stan was doing his homework in Kyle's bed. Kyle was laying on his side, but he was facing Stan.

"So, Kenny asked about you. He said that Kevin thought you were over here. Do you want to see him?" Stan asked.

Kyle did not answer, which Stanhad learned to mean that Kyle did not know or care. This made Stan snap, all his frustrations at himself was suddenly projected onto Kyle.

"God, I can't take this anymore!" Stan snapped. He began picking up his things and shoving them in his bag. "All you do is mope around! You're not even trying to get better and I'm so sick of it! Do you even want to get better?!

"Look I know you went through something really bad, but I dealt with shit too. My best friend was gone. I thought you left me. And without you around Cartman manipulated everyone into basically hating me for three years! And the entire time I could not figure out why my best friend would not even call me! I'm glad you're back and all Kyle, but I was just starting to get my life back! 

"So suck it up already! If you're not going to get better fine. But I'm not sticking around here to watch you act like this!" Stan yelled. He stormed out of the room slamming the door. He then purposely went up the stairs as loudly as possible and slammed the door to his room. He threw his bag on the floor and flung himself on his bed.

He was so upset. He really failed Kyle this time, and the thing was he had no idea how to even help his friend. He had no idea what was wrong with him, and so he felt lost. He felt like everything was against him. When he had finally forgiven Kyle for leaving him, he had come back. Yet, it was not the friend he had once knew. It was almost better believing that Kyle, the lost boy, was his best friend then the Kyle that was existing in his guest room.

His anger faded quickly however. He knew he was not angry at Kyle. He was angry at other things. He felt guilty for believing that Kyle would leave him without ever calling or writing. He felt guilty for giving up on Kyle and blaming him for all of his problems in Middle School. As soon as his anger disappeared, he felt guilty for yelling at Kyle. He knew his friend was still hurting really bad and he had blown it by adding to the hurt.

"Shit," Stan swore. He raced downstairs and back into Kyle's room. He was at his kneeling at his bedside quickly. "Kyle? Ky, I'm so sorry. I did not mean to yell at you. You have not done anything wrong. I just, I want my best friend back and that does not mean I want the old Kyle back. I just want you to get better and happy. I'm sorry."

Kyle turned around to face Stan. He had still been facing the middle of the bed when Stan came in. Stan's head was bowed and he was looking at the floor. It was easy to tell that Stan felt embarrassed. Sitting up, Kyle reached out and put a hand on Stan's head. When Stan looked up, Kyle moved his hand to Stan's cheek.

Stan was sure this was the first time Kyle had looked anyone in the eyes in five years. His dark green eyes looked into Stan's blue ones. At first the amazement of this big step for Kyle overshadowed the fact that Kyle's eyes were puffy and moist like he had been crying. "Kyle? God, I'm so sorry."

"No, Stan. It's okay. People get mad sometimes. We all have our own problems." Kyle promised. He did not blame Stan for his anger, he understood. Kyle added, "I do want to get better."

"You do?" Stan looked a little surprised, more at Kyle's admission then the fact that Kyle wanted to get better. Stan never really thought that Kyle did not, it just seemed like it sometimes. "It's hard?"

"So hard," Kyle nodded. He dropped his hand into his lap letting out a shaky breath. "I'll try more. Kenny can visit."

Stan felt his heart drop into his stomach. He loved the fact that Kyle was willing to try more, but hearing that Kyle wanted to see Kenny made Stan feel unneeded again. He rose from the floor. He wanted to give them some space after their argument today.

Kyle shuddered when Stan stepped away from him. "Are you going to leave again?" His eyes dropped back to the floor when he said this.

The raven-haired teen instantly decided that space was overrated, and he crowd Kyle. He sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around the redhead. He held him. 

Kenny came over like planned that Friday. He was wearing what Kyle thought was a brand-new coat, but he still had it pulled over his head. Kyle was not sure he would be able to understand Kenny anymore but he hoped he could. 

He and Stan waited for Kenny to come over, where they planned to eat pizza, watch movies, and play video games. Kyle knew he once loved doing these things, but ever since his Dad left he had lost interested in such things. Stan said it would be great though, Mr. and Mrs. Marsh both agreed to leave the house and go on a date to give the boys some privacy. 

The couple was still getting ready upstairs when Kenny finally arrived. Stan went to get the door leaving Kyle by himself. Stan often did things like that, hurry out of the room in saying he needed to do this or that. This time he did have to get the door, but sometimes Kyle thought Stan was leaving just to get away from him. He hated being in a room by himself. He had spent nearly five years in the attic with just his brother and his cage for company. When they were in those they were not allowed to talk. Shelia could always hear them no matter how quiet they tried to be. So having his brother around was very little comfort.

Stan returned with Kenny a few minutes later. It was also at that time that Mr. and Mrs. Marsh came downstairs. Mrs. Marsh smiled at Kyle and then turned to Stan. "You know my cell and you know who to call in case of an emergency. We're just going to be up the street so don't worry about calling."

"Here Stan, here is thirty dollars for pizza," Mr. Marsh hand his son two crisp bills. "We'll be back around midnight, so don't wait up."

"Okay," Stan waved his parents away, wanting to start his night. The two adults left the house to the three teenagers.

"Hey Kyle," Kenny said sitting down beside the redhead. He still had his hood on but it did not muffle his voice as much as the parka did. He nudged Kyle's side. "My brother told me that he found you guys. I can't believe you lived locked up in your house for five years. Way to get out of school."

Kyle tried to smile because he knew Kenny was making a joke. He thought that Kenny probably knew as much as Stan did about what had happened to him. "It was not that simple. Tell your brother I said thanks."

Kenny looked a little surprised about this. It confirmed what Kyle had thought. "So Stan, people at school are starting to talk. Some of them _know_ that Kyle is here and some of them are _sure_ that he is not. Are you ever going to tell anyone?"

Stan sat down in the lounge chair next to the couch. This made Kyle feel a little bit sad. He liked it when Stan was close by. Kyle remembered Stan as being the first person other then his parents that he completely trusted. And he chose to trust him. Both of Kyle's parents had betrayed his trust, although one more then the other. He wanted to believe that his father had no idea what he had left him and Ike too, but the fact was Gerald had left and that alone really hurt Kyle. So he liked to have Stan close by. He liked to think that if Stan stuck around then he could get better, not just good, but really better.

"Kyle? Ky, you're staring again," Stan knocked Kyle out of his thoughts. Stan said he stared too much, but often Kyle did not know what else to do. Listening to Kenny and Stan talk about school meant nothing to Kyle. He could not even be angry about it anymore. It was just like the other day when he was trying to watch Terrance and Phillip with Stan. It just did not mean anything to him anymore. "Kyle."

"Oh, sorry," Kyle said straightening out again. He tried to think of a good question to ask Kenny. Something that would seem pretty normal. Then he remembered what Stan had told him to ask Ike when he visited before. "So how have you been?" 

Kenny nudged Kyle again, "Are you hitting on me, cowboy?"

This caused Stan to throw a pillow at him. "No, perv. He's asking because he has not seen you in five years."

"Oh right. I'm alright. Mom got a job after Dad left and without anyone drinking us out of house an home we were able to get improve our lifestyle a bit. Then Kevin got a job, but Mom wouldn't accept much money from him." He shifted a little in his seat. Kyle thought he might have something else he wanted to say, but he did not say it. "Hey Stan-host, I'm starving! Don't you feed your guests?"

Stan grumbled, "Yeah, yea. I'll order the pizza. You two can start playing video games if you want to."

Kyle watched Stan as he left the room to order the pizza. He left quickly again and it made Kyle feel responsible again. That might have been a good thing, Kyle thought that he might be able to get better if he had someone to work for, to live for. So far his desire to get better increased whenever Stan was around. 

"He really missed you, Ky," Kenny commented when he noticed that Kyle was still staring. He plugged in the GameSphere and handed Kyle a controller. "I mean, you remember when Wendy dumped him, right? Well, it was like that but worse! He-he tried to kill himself, he was cutting up his arms, but it all turned around when his mom caught him using heroin. 

"God, I prayed you'd return before it was too late, but the funny thing is, I knew you weren't with your Dad. I just could not believe you were still here." 

Kyle looked away. Stan had not been lying when he said he had his own problems. He just did not realize how deeply it would affect Stan. 

"He just needs you Kyle," Kenny shrugged, "Now I hope you're not rusty cause I kick ass at this thing."

Kyle was rusty, but as he started to play his muscle memory started to return to him and he was at least able to keep up with his friends. After a while he was even beginning to feel like he was having fun. When he noticed Stan smiling at him, he was actually able to smile back, which caused Kenny to win that game.

"Okay enough with these. The pizza has settled into my stomach and all I want to do is watch movies." Stan decided after losing to Kenny again.

Kenny grinned, "Fine with me." He hurried over to the movies that Stan rented to see if there was one that he would like.

Stan moved over to the couch, pretending to pick up plates and cups on the way, but when he sat down next to Kyle, his hands were magically empty.

"What about Saw XV?" Kenny held up the movie showed the movie to his friends. 

Before Stan could shrug, Kyle blurted out, "NO!" He knew that he could not sit through an entire hour and a half watching people get butchered, if Saw XV was anything like Saw II. 

"Okay, geez. I thought you liked scary movies." Kenny started looking through the movies again.

Stan squeezed Kyle's knee. He gave him an encouraging smile. "What do you want to watch, Ky?"

"I don't care, just nothing like that, please," Kyle looked really upset. He was visibly shaking. 

Stan reached over and put an arm around him. "Hey Kenny look for something more in the porn area..." He paused when he noticed that Kyle was shaking even harder now. The redhead shook his head when he looked over. "Action then?"

"Okay," Kyle nodded. He leaned into Stan, pulling his legs up onto the couch, he was able to curl up next to him.

"Gosh if you guys are going to be like that, I'll leave." Kenny snickered. He took the arm chair. He had picked the latest Bourne movie and had control of the remote.

Stan scoffed at Kenny but did not move away. This made Kyle feel better, about fifteen minutes into the movies, he was able to relax again. He stayed close to Stan for the rest of the movie, but he stopped acting so clingy early on.

"Hey guys I'm going to get a refill of Coke, do you want anything?" Stan asked. Kenny said that he wanted a steak, and Kyle just nodded to Stan's original question, a Coke. He hurried away, again leaving Kenny and Kyle in the room together.

Kenny put in a second movie while Stan was gone. Then he sat down next to Kyle. He played with the hem of his jacket for a bit before he looked at Kyle. "I-I might be able to get a hold of your Dad Kyle. My Dad calls me at least once a month, and if you wanted me to I could tell Dad about what happened. I know they're going to try and contact your Mom's family if they don't get a hold of your Dad, but I don't think you want to live with them. Kevin says they're already trying to call Ike's birth parents."

The redhead looked at Kenny in surprise. It was easy to look at Kenny. The blonde wore his hood, and it made Kyle feel safe looking at him. "You know where my Dad is?"

"Well no. Dad says he took too much from our family. He does not want to take us kids away from Mom as well. So he calls us, but we don't have caller-id or nothing, and he doesn't give us his number. But he did say that if anything happened...your Dad says it too sometimes." Kenny explained. He licked his lips, "That's why I wanted to come over Kyle. I wanted to know. I could tell them what happen. I could tell them that you're here and that you need them."

Gerald might have betrayed Kyle by leaving, but if what Kenny said was true, he had only done so because he did not want to be so selfish. Gerald probably had no idea what had happened to him or Ike, and Kyle knew that he could forgive his father. He could especially forgive him if he came home. Kyle nodded his head. He felt something warm and soft in his heart. It was the same feeling he used to get around his father when he was a kid. "Yeah."

"Okay great." Kenny smiled then he stood up. "Well I'm going to go then. I'll see you later Kyle. You're coming to school soon right?" 

"You're leaving?" Stan said, when he entered the room. Kyle grew silent again. He stared to stare. He could just picture it. Gerald would come home and they would have a father again. They would have a family. Gerald and Kenny's Dad would take care of them.

"Kyle you're staring again," said Stan. Kenny was already gone and Stan had cleaned up the room. He had a blanket and the previews were running on the DVD. He sat down next to Kyle putting the blanket around them. "But you did good tonight Kyle. Really good."

"Stan, one day I want to tell you want happened." Kyle said softly. Stan squeezed him around the middle. He did not say anything, but Kyle knew he understood that he would.

Stan could see it now Kyle was getting so much better. He started school about a week after Kenny had come over. It was hard at first, and Kyle was not really being graded. He would do the homework and participate but school for now was a trial and they wanted to make sure he could handle it first.

But the specialist, the CPS judge, and even his Mom did not know that school and Kyle were always good with each other. Stan knew, he could see that Kyle saw nothing wrong with school. Kyle knew how school worked and he knew how to work to make school work. He did not have to be better to go to school. In fact being at school was really helping Kyle recover. It reminded him of before, everything. 

The other students were a key to this as well. Kyle still did not like Cartman draggin his name through the mud, and he would not be thought of as a Melvin. Kyle did not have to be the coolest, but he always tried to remain somewhere in the middle.

Stan was extremely happy with Kyle's improvements, but maybe he would not have been if he had known where this would lead him. It was almost a month after Kyle started going back to school that Stan had an experience that shocked and awed his conscience.

He was sitting on his bedroom floor with Kyle. They told Stan's Mom that they were doing homework, but they were actually just listening to music and talking. It felt really good for Stan to talk to Kyle. 

"In History class today they talked about the Holocaust," Stan started his march to that fateful moment. "We had a few people in talking about their experiences. Clyde asked a very interesting question, how can people who survived a Holocaust move past that and become sort of normal people."

"Yeah?" Kyle looked a little interested. He knew where this was leading, to him. He knew that Stan wanted Kyle to get better. He would not compare what happened to him to what happened in the Holocaust but he could see what Stan was talking about.

"Yeah, they all agreed that it was the fact they opened up and started talking about it. They said they never really believed that they were survivors of the Holocaust, they lived through it, but it was always with them, but talking helps them." Stan explained. He reached over taking Kyle's hand. "You can always talk to me Kyle. When you're ready."

The redhead nodded. He knew what Stan wanted. He wanted Kyle to open up to him. Kyle wanted Stan to be the person he opened up to. He refused to talk to the Specialist about **it**, told the bloke why and everything. He said it was okay, but eventually Kyle would tell him what happened. 

Still Kyle was not sure he was ready to tell Stan. He knew once he started he would not be able to stop. He knew that he could tell Stan most of what happened, but one part still haunted him, and he did not think he was really ready for that. He looked down at his lap imagining what he knew was under his clothes. It stung to know that his mother's mark would never be gone, not mentally or physically. 

All he wanted was to be a normal kid, to think about what he wanted to be in the future, and plan how many kids he wanted to have, but now he could not do either of those things. Right now, if he was like Stan his voice would have stopped changing, his muscles would have filled in, and his penis would be almost uncontrollable, raging with hormones. But instead, his voice would always remain like a child's, he would get tall maybe taller then he should and his muscles would always be weak, and his penis would never grow to the size that it was supposed to. 

He would never be able to feel the pleasure of sex or the pleasures of seeing little redhead, blue-eyed children. He may not even have a desire for sex. He would not be a very good lover, and so he probably would never have a family. 

Stan had it good so good. Despite all the problems he went through, he was clean now and he could make something of his life. He only wished that he had some knowledge of what his penis might have looked like. Then it hit Kyle, he could have that knowledge.

"Stan!" Kyle sat up from the floor. He moved closer to his friend, looking at him hopefully. "Stan, please, please, if I ask you something will you promise to do it?"

"I-I Ky," Stan did not know what Kyle wanted but he knew that he would kill or die for Kyle, whatever he wanted he would give him. "Yes, I promise."

"Take off your pants, please. I want to see your penis," Kyle begged his best friend.

Stan's jaw dropped open, suicide and murder were both violent in nature, but anything sex related always had a different standard. But this was Kyle, Stan loved him. "S-sure Kyle." 

Kyle helped Stan out of his jeans and boxer-briefs. Then Stan knelt down beside Kyle. His penis lay flat against his testicles. Kyle's eyes welled up with tears at the sight. Seeing balls for the first time in five years was incredible. They were not his, but they could be. As Kyle stared Stan got a little bit erected. He blushed and tried to hide himself.

"No, don't." Kyle ordered pulling Stan's hands away. He kept hold of one, squeezing it. "God Stan you're so lucky."

"I am?" Stan looked down at his penis. He knew his was a good size but he did not think it was so big that it made him lucky. 

"Yeah." Kyle swallowed deliberately. He stood up from the floor ordering Stan to close his eyes he dropped his pants and his boxers. It was a relief at first because Kyle had spent five years being completely naked all of the time. His clothes could become incredibly itch now, and sometimes made him feel overheated. Returning to his spot next to Stan, he grabbed Stan's hand again.

"You can open them." Kyle said. He held his breath when Stan did. At first Stan did not see anything wrong. He was too excited that Kyle was willing to show him something so private, but it only took Stan a little while for him to understand why Kyle had wanted to see his penis.

"Wh-what happen? Oh my god! Kyle you're balls are...are gone!" Stan stammered. He had no idea what to think about this. He had seen some of the guys in his gym class and none of them looked like Kyle.

"My Mom did it. She did it to me and to Ike." Kyle explained. He slumped his shoulders forward, a weight lifted off of him. It was the one thing he had not been ready to tell Stan. "It's called castration. She did it a few weeks after my Dad left. She said that my Dad left because he could not control his penis. She said she never wanted us to leave. She always wanted us to be her little boys, so she took from us the thing that would make us a man."

"How?" Stan was floored by this.

"She's not a doctor Stan. You have no idea how much it hurts to have your balls removed." Kyle explained.

_Gerald had left over two weeks ago. Shelia was still upset about it, but Kyle and Ike were still hoping that she would get over it soon and let them return to a normal life. Since Gerald had left Kyle and Ike had not been able to leave the house, first, then they could not leave their rooms. Shelia had not hurt them yet, but sometimes she forgot to bring them their meals._

_She had finally decided exactly how she was going to keep her sons from doing the same thing as their father. She brought them out of bed in the middle of the night. She had Kyle lead them upstairs into the attic. The boys were too sleepy to notice the cages near the back wall._

_"Sit down in the chair Kyle," She nodded to the up-right chair. It was itch and uncomfortable but Kyle knew not to argue. She picked up Ike and place him on a card table. She made sure that he was secured to the table tightly._

_Then she turned to Kyle and explained to him and Ike what she was doing. She told them that their father left and that she was not going to let them do the same. She said she had been planning this for sometime and she thought that she was capable of it now._

_Ike was first because Shelia wanted to prepare Kyle for what would happen. She started by taking off Ike's pants and underwear. Ike protested but she did not listen. She picked up what looked like a garlic press. Spreading Ike's legs apart she placed his ball sac in the press. Ike was still really little. Kyle knew that Ike's balls had not dropped yet. He only had a bit of lose skin that flopped about this and that way when he ran._

_Kyle did not have the capablity to think about what his mother was going to do. He honestly did not know that it could be done, but when Shelia pressed Ike's sac with the garlic press he finally realized what his mother was capable of. And the worst part was, Kyle wished he could have gone first. He did not want to watch his brother get tortured._

_The garlic press did not press Ike's sac as well as it would a garlic. Ike was howling so loud that Kyle knew that one of their neighbors had to hear, but no one came. When it finally happened Kyle swore he heard a pop from his brother when his sac busted open._

_Ike shierked so loud, but it did not over power the gallons of blood pooring from his brother. His mother, used a butcher knife to cut off Ike's sac until only some lose skin remained. She then lifted Ike from the table and put him in the cage in the back of the room. Ike sobbed and cried from his place, but his whimpers went unheard by their mother._

_Kyle wanted to fight, he wanted to do anything to get away from his mother, but one thing mad him stay. In his head he could hear his father's voice saying, 'Take care of your brother, Kyle.' He knew that even if he could make it to the police station and that he could get someone to save him, there might not be a chance to save his brother. He knew that no matter how small the chance he could not leave Ike to it. He had to stay._

_So he hardly moved when his mother strapped him to the cardtable. He laid in his brother's blood and his mother stripped him of his pajamas. He shivered at the nights freezing air. His brother's blood was starting to get cold and sticky, and it made him sick to his stomach. He forced himself to hold it in. He could not move his head and he did not want to get vomit on his face, or worse yet choke on it._

_His mother did not use the garlic press on him. That was too big apparently. Instead she simply started cutting away at him, over and over, and over and over. Kyle screamed and cried. He begged his mother to stop. And strangely he remembered how he and his friends made Butters masturbate until he ejaculated, back then doing things like that was strange and weird, but even now his friends for the most part had not started doing that. As his most was cutting off his balls he realized that he would never be able to._

_He sobbed because of this, he cried because of the pain and the blood. He had no idea what he could have done to make his mother act like this. She had always been a bit over the edge, but he had always trusted her, and now she would never be able to earn that back, and still he felt like he loved her. He knew that she was upset about his father, and he could not completely blame her. She had gone over the edge, he and Ike were just there for the ride._

_When she was finally done cutting off his testicles, she placed them in a jar of alcohol. She had placed Ike's ball sac into a similar jar. After she was done securing her sons' manhoods. She realized that Ike and Kyle were bleeding profusely. She did not like all the blood they were getting everywhere. _

_She put Kyle into a cage and pulled Ike out. She put him back on the table, where she proceeded to attempt to sew Ike back up. Ike had already passed out from the pain and bloodloss, and Kyle was blackened out as well, so a couple of homemade stitches seemed like nothing._

_Kyle's vision faded and he finally blacked out, a long time before his mother start to stitch him up. In the end, he and Ike had new homes in the cages in the attic. They had poorly done stitches and Ike nearly died from an infection he caught from the procedure. But, they both lived through it. They both survived. _

"And it's over now. We'll never have to go through that again," Kyle finished. It took him over an hour to tell Stan everything. He went into as much detail as he could. Once he started it was true, he could not stop. Stan was more shaken then he was when he finished. 

"Oh my god, Kyle," Stan reached out for his best friend. He put his arms around him and held him tight. "Oh my god. I should have been there. I should have known. I should have done something."

"Stan you did nothing wrong." Kyle pulled back looking into his friend's blue eyes. "When we were eight we thought we could out run, out smart, and out do anyone, but Stan I don't think there was anything you could have done. If there had been you would have done it."

Stan nodded, Kyle was comforting him now. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Kyle said. He knew they had nothing to be sorry for, they did nothing wrong, but the situation felt like it called for some sort of sorry.

"Did-did she do anything else. That was the worst. But I mean did she just bring meals up to you and leave you up there?" Stan asked. He was so curious, but he really felt like he was asking to help Kyle.

"She did stuff to us. She would always take us out and let us walk once around the attic. Then sometimes she would be nice and play a game with us, but other times she would make me or Ike sit in that chair and she would hit us, or do other physical stuff to us. If you mean did she molest us or anything?"

"Yeah, that." Stan shifted, pulling Kyle into his lap. The redhead did not protest. He simple made himself comfortable despite the fact that both boys were naked from the waist down.

"Once maybe twice." Kyle shrugged a little. He rested his head on Stan's shoulders.

"We don't have to talk about it anymore." Stan offered. Kyle nodded he did not want to talk about it again. "Do you want to stay in my room tonight?"

"Yeah," Kyle softly said. 

Gerald was very nervous. He had come back to South Park Colorado because Kenny, Stuart's youngest son, told him that Kyle and Ike needed him. Even though Shelia's death had been national news Gerald had missed it. He lived in Boston, Mass and the newscast had aired twice on one day a few months ago. He would have been come sooner if he had seen.

He had never wanted to leave his sons, for almost ten years it was only the fact that he had children that he was able to lie to himself for so long. He had never been and would never be happy in his marriage with Shelia. It was not even her fault, it was because he had already fallen in love. He fell in love with Stuart McCormick since they were boys. 

Over five years ago, he had come to terms with his feelings and the fact that he would never live a 'normal' life like he had hoped. It was not easy jumping ship and starting over, especially because he had to leave his sons behind. Stuart still had a drinking problem, but he was working on it, and Gerald was still a lousy lawyer and he could not even practice in Mass. So he got a job in advertisements. Really it was only in the last year that they had finally began to really work everything out, but Gerald could honestly say that he was happier with Stuart then he ever was with his wife, children or none.

Still when it came down to a choice he would rather have his children then not have them. He explained this to the cops and the CPS officers. He had proof that he was even up to date on his child support payments. Apparently, Shelia had used the checks to further her Ebay business and not for the good of their children.

"We'll contact the foster home's your sons have been placed in and have them brought down to the station, Mr. Broflovski, Dad," Kevin nodded. He walked away proudly. He had a job and he was making something of his life and now he could show that to his father. He knew his father, or probably Mr. Broflovski always sent money to his Ma to help take care of him. He knew that his father had not completely abandoned them. Stuart was just making something out of his life, even if he was still a lazy drunk.

Gerald reached over taking Stuart's hand, "You should be proud of him."

"Why? I didn't do nothin' if my kids are good it's 'ause of their Mama," Stuart shrugged Gerald's hand off. Truthfully he was proud of his son, but he would not admit that. He also felt guilty for leaving his kids. He knew he had been a shitty father, but at least he could always say that he tried to do what's right by their mother, that was until he left five years ago.

Kevin came back after he made the phone call handing the two men cups of coffee. "So what? You're going to take those two kids with you, but leave Kenny and my little sister here?"

"We're not sure what we are going to do yet," Gerald answered the question. "You know we have always extend invitations to you kids to come stay with us. But, we may try to stick around. Our lives in Boston are not as important as the lives we have here in South Park."

"O-oh," Kevin nodded. He knew that it did not mean that his Daddy was coming home. Hell, Ma would never let him, but it was a start. "That's good. That red-haired one has really been showing some progress on recovering, Kenny says it's because of his friend Stan."

"Recovering?" Gerald's eyes widened. He had simply thought that Shelia had died. He was sure the boys were upset about it, but the way Kevin spoke it sounded like something more.

Kevin bit his bottom lip gently. He knew he had a duty to disclose the information to Kyle and Ike's father, but it was not a subject to be taken lightly. He did not know if he could explain what happened properly. Still Kevin knew his job and he carefully explained to the two men what happened to Ike and Kyle. Gerald was sobbing by the time it was over, he did not even get the details of the situation like Stan did, he simply heard about the damage that Kyle and Ike's exams had found.

Gerald did not feel embarrassed when he cried, because he did not cry for himself. He cried for his two sons. He was their father and he felt like he was somewhat responsible for this situation. Kyle was his own flesh and blood, and Ike had been trusted to him by another family, by the state, and that was equally as valuable as his own blood.

Kyle and Ike were brought in together. Ike had to wait until Kyle finally arrived, and they brought the boys to see their father. They left the three alone in order to give them some privacy, but they were still being watched through a one way mirror.

"Daddy!" Ike cried. He flung himself at his father. A few months ago when the boys were found neither would have shown such emotion at seeing their father. They were really improving. Ike was doing the best, but Kyle was looked like he would recover.

"Ike! Kyle," Gerald was able to hug both of his sons. Despite the fact that they were five years older and bigger, he could still wrap his arms around both of them. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I always missed you, and I never stopped loving you or thinking about you."

Ike pulled back from his Dad to look him in the eye, "We know. Mom always told us that you did bad things to us, but Kyle and I never believed her."

Kyle stiffened a little and pulled completely away from his Dad. He moved over taking the seat that Stuart had sat in. He still was not sure he trusted his father enough to let him know what his Mom did to him, to them. He felt like he did not deserve to feel any sort of pain or sadness because of what happened.

"Ike," Gerald set the ten-year-old on his knee. "I'm so sorry about what happened. I should have been there to stop it. To protect you boys, I was being selfish." 

He traced his fingers along Ike's cheek and jaw-line, he had grown up so much since he had been five, but he knew that it was not like it could have been. He knew about what happened to Ike and Kyle and he was disgusted. "What she did was wrong. It was bad. You understand. It's forbidden in our religion to do so. I wish I had been there. I wish it had been me not you."

"Stop!" Kyle stood up from his seat. He felt so conflicted but he knew he needed to say something. "It was not your fault. It was not Ike's or mine. It was her fault. She was the one who did this to us. Maybe it could have been prevented, but if it could have then it would have. I don't want you to apologize or to feel bad. I just want you to take us home, and help Ike and me get better. We will never be normal, and we'll never forget but at least we will be able to live."

Gerald looked a little stung. He wanted to promise his children everything, but Kyle did not want that. He just wanted it to be normal between them. He just wanted to be a normal son, who had a normal father who loved him a normal amount. Then he smiled, he remembered when he came to the realization that he would never be a normal, normal, but he could be himself and still be happy.

"I think, I understand just what you mean." Gerald promised never to apologize or to feel bad again for his sons. They could still be happy even though they may never get to be normal kids or adults again.

Kyle and Ike moved in a house at the far end of South Park, almost in Park County instead of the actual town, with Gerald and Stuart. It was nice for the boys to finally have a home with a loving family. The boys had fallen into a good routine and they were really starting to recover, except something was off. Kyle felt so strange where he had finally been able to spend most of his day out of bed at the Marsh, now home he was spending more and more time in his bed. He would not say he no longer felt safe, but he knew something was just wrong.

Gerald and Ike were really starting to worry about Kyle. Kyle had missed the last three days of school, it was Saturday, and Kyle had spent the entire day in bed, just laying there. Ike on the other hand spend most of the day playing games with his Dad and talking to Stuart. There was an obvious difference between the boys. But neither parent nor brother could figure out what was wrong with Kyle.

It was Kyle's own actions that made him figure out what was finally hurting him. It was nearing midnight in South Park, and after spending all day in bed Kyle hardly slept. Still he was in bed, shivering. He felt frightened but he was unable to pinpoint what frightened him, which only served to scare him even more. If he knew what was wrong then he could try to take steps in fixing it. He told Stan that he wanted to get better, but just like before Kyle was unable to understand how. 

The brief thought of Stan had Kyle surging out of bed, and grabbing the phone beside his bed. He dialed Stan's number and waited for several rings. Shelley picked up the line, "What!?"

Kyle shuddered at hearing her scream. He remember how she had yelled at him, how she had cursed at him. It made him frightened, her anger was similar to what his mother's used to be. He knew that Shelley was capable of doing something so terrible to another person, that especially rang true when it came to Stan and his friends. Kyle could not answer her, he just shivered and breathed. He hung the phone up and fell back in bed tears falling from his eyes.

Stan was no fool however, even though he had been asleep when the phone call came in. He picked it up when Shelley was screaming at the person on the other line to speak or die. He immediately had an idea of who this person was. So pulling on his coat and some slippers, he hurried over to Kyle's possibly to catch his death. He had really missed Kyle now that he was living in another house. It hard now to spend as much time with Kyle as he had. He had not seen Kyle for a few days in school and he was beginning to worry about him.

When he arrived at the Broflovski's he let himself in, the door was unlocked like most of the doors in South Park. He hurried upstairs into Kyle's room. Kyle had a little light on by the bed so it was easy for him to tell that Kyle was still awake.

Stan shrugged out of his coat and toed off his slippers. He hurried over the bed, feeling it sink down when he sat. "Kyle?"

The redhead turned to face Stan looking surprised. "How'd you know?" He felt a surge of emotions fill his chest. He was no longer scared, and he had stopped shiver. The funny feeling was just gone.

"I just knew," Stan explaned. He pulled back the covers and slipped into bed with Kyle. He made a point of staying on his side of the bed, but he reached for Kyle's hand taking it. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," Kyle reached up to turn off the light. He then laid his head down on Stan's chest closing his eyes. He knew then that this was the reason he had regressed in the last couple days. He missed Stan so much. Stan protected him and took care of him. Kyle was able to get better at the Marsh's house because Stan was around to help him. 

"I'll come around more then," Stan vowed. Kyle might live on the otherside of town but that would not stop him from visiting. It made both Kyle and Stan feel more at eased. Stan had his own recovering to do, and he would need Kyle just as much as Kyle needed him. Both boys relaxed into each other drifting to sleep. Even though Kyle had spent the entire day in bed he had hardly slept. 

A year past since Shelia Broflovski was found dead in her house, with two boys caged up in her attic. Gerald and Stuart moved back to South Park, they wanted to keep Kyle and Ike around people they were familiar with. Kenny and his siblings were welcome over anytime and were often over every weekend.

Ike was much better. He was excelling in school again, and he started Coach Pitch baseball this year. He seemed to be really happy, and sometimes he still had nightmares, but that was okay because he would never really forget about what happened to him and his brother.

Kyle was still worse off then his little brother. He was getting better though. He was actually able to catch up with the rest of his class as far as school went, and that really pleased him. He was also learning to trust again. He never lost faith in Stan, but he now trusted Stan's family and his father again. Some days were better then others, but he knew he could make it.

One thing special about this day was that Ike and Kyle had just gone through reconstructive surgery. It was suspected that Ike might be able to get the use of his balls back, if they were luck, although he may need help getting it up. 

Kyle was not so lucky. Unlike Ike his balls had been taken from him. Ike's were still inside of him, when his mother castrated him. But Kyle was happy nonetheless, he would at least be able to look normal. He would probably never get the use of his balls back, and he would never feel sexual pleasure but he looked normal. 

Besides, Stan was waiting for him when he woke up from surgery. He was sitting in Kyle's bed near his feet. Kyle smiled when their eyes met. "You're Dad just went to check on Ike."

"That's--" _cough_. Stan hurried to get Kyle some water. After wetting his whistle Kyle continued, "That's good."

Stan shrugged in agreement. "So are you glad that you did it still?"

"Yeah. Every time I looked at my body I always remembered what my mom did to me, now maybe I can forget." Kyle explained. He moved to sit up and Stan helped him. He smiled gratefully at him. "Stan. I want to thank you. Do you know how much you have done for me? If it wasn't for you I don't think I would have ever gotten fixed. The surgery would have meant nothing if I couldn't feel comfortable being myself. So I just want to say thanks, for fixing me."

Stan looked shocked. All of those days he thought he had failed Kyle, that he was failing him again, came back to him. Kyle had really gotten better, and he was thanking Stan for helping. Stan squeezed Kyle's hand between his. He leaned down and kiss Kyle on the cheek. "Thank you for wanting to get better. For wanting to be my best friend."

"Stan, I'm not your best friend," Kyle smirked. Stan's eyebrow rose questioningly. Kyle continued to grin, "I'm your super best friend." He pressed a kiss to Stan's mouth. It was their first real kiss. Kyle hoped that it would not be their last.

"God, Kyle. I love you," Stan said. He sounded so nervous but Kyle could tell by the grin pressed against his lips that Stan was telling the truth.

"I love you too," Kyle admitted before returning the kiss.

The End.


End file.
